The Sponsorship Licence allows an employer / education provider to sponsor a foreign worker or student to come and work or study in the UK.

You will not need a licence to sponsor certain groups, including:

• Irish citizens
• people with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
• Commonwealth citizens with the ‘right of abode’ or a valid UK Ancestry visa
• British Overseas Territories citizens (except those from the Sovereign Base Areas of Cyprus)
• people with indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• people with BNO visa

Once a Sponsorship Licence has been granted, the relevant employer will then be registered and have granted its institutions own Sponsor Management System account, which then allow you to issue Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS).

The are two types of CoS;

• Defined CoS
  • These certificates are required for those who are applying from outside of the UK and making an entry clearance application as a Skilled Worker.
• Undefined CoS
  • There will be annual allocation of undefined CoS
  • This type of CoS are usually applicable for persons who are ‘switching’ their visa within the UK, I.E. From a Student visa

Those who are in the UK as Visitors cannot apply for a Skilled Worker within the UK. They need to return to their country of residence and apply from there on, thus, require a Defined CoS.